ESDC Puts Off AMD Deal

The Empire State Development Corp. has delayed the sale of $102 million of bonds that were to be used as a part of a $1.2 billion incentive package for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to build a $4.6 billion computer chip plant near Albany.

“ESDC does not expect to sell any bonds for the project this fiscal year, but when they are sold they will be [personal income tax] bonds,” ESDC spokesman A.J. Carter said in an e-mail.

The fiscal 2009 executive budget and financial plan called for the state to sell between $650 million of bonds for the project, which is slated to be located in Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta, over five years beginning in the current fiscal year. The ESDC is one of five public authorities in New York that sell PIT bonds on behalf of the state.

Last month, the agency postponed a vote on the incentive package, which includes grants and tax breaks, due to changes at AMD. The company announced in October that it was creating a subsidiary, the Foundry Co., as a joint venture with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi that would handle the manufacturing side of its business. The creation of the new company requires new documentation, Carter said.

“We expect the project to come before the board in December when the documentation is complete,” he said.

The project has been in the works for years and was hailed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and current Gov. David Paterson as a key component of the development of a high-tech corridor in the capital region.

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